Friday, February 26, 2010
Liveblog: NBF 28 Part 2
First up is International Karate Academy's Geidrius Karavackas against Fight Factory's Kasheem Peterson in a welterweight fight. Like Deividas Taurosevicius and Mackens Semerzier, Karavackas upholds the grand tradition of having a dangerously unpronouncable name, and someone has to give the ring announcer the Heimlich Manuever when he attempts it. We'll see if he fights as well as them. And... he does, first feeding Peterson a healthy dose of right hand, landing a takedown, and alternating from mount to back-mount until Karavackas sinks the rear naked choke. The official time of the tap out is 2:57 of Round 1. Next up: Rich Lictawa of Motor City Boxing vs. Tim Carpenter of Team Balance at 205 pounds. Carpenter is undefeated, but he only fights about once every five years, so he remains a bit of an x-factor around these parts. Lictawa, meanwhile, is a Midwest import who likes to drink motor oil. Yikes. The first round sees Carpenter working for the favorable tie-up, Lictawa avoiding the ground, and the two peppering each other with strikes. Round 2 is more of the same. Carpenter is successful in getting Lictawa down in the third, and his ground and pound and positional dominance is enough for him to take the round - and the unanimous decision.
Liveblog: NBF 28 Part 1
MMA Journalist is cageside for New Breed Fighters 28 at the Resorts Casino Hotel in beautiful sunny Atlantic City. Long a staple in the New Jersey amateur scene, NBF has paired with Monte Cox's Adrenaline MMA tonight to venture into pro waters with a six-bout card headlined by hometown hero Dante Rivera, whom most may remember for his stint on "The Ultimate Fighter". Or you may remember Rivera because he stole your girlfriend from you in high school. Either way, he's the main event, and the undercard features such studs as DEEP veteran Zach Makovsky, TUF alumn Mike Dolce and undefeated Philly fighter Tim Carpenter. Rising star Jeff Lentz was slated to be on the card as well, but a miscommunication had him weighing 240 pounds when his bout was at 145. Oops.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Weekend Schedule
A busy weekend looms for local MMA fans. Set the DVR to "stun" and catch Strikeforce Challengers on Showtime Friday night, where the world's number-one ranked 135-pound female fighter in Sarah Kaufman takes on number-three ranked Takayo Hashi for a championship belt. Meanwhile, Monte Cox's Adrenaline MMA returns to Atlantic City to team up with New Breed Fighters. This will be NBF's first pro MMA venture (they specialize in amateur fights), and though there are only six bouts on the card, big name fighters like Dante Rivera and Zach Makovsky make the event worthwhile. Fast forward to Saturday night in Atlantic City and you have another Aslyum Fight League installment, with James Funaro taking on Chris Wing as one of the multitude of match-ups. Then there's Sunday... *cough* underground show *cough*. Plus, Paul Rosner's memorial fight show takes place in Brooklyn on Sunday evening. That right there is a lot of MMA. Stay tuned for some furious liveblogging!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Feared Bounty Hunter Tom Gallicchio to Add Judoka Pelt to His Grim Collection
Garden State welterweight stud and feared bounty hunter Tom Gallicchio is traveling north this weekend, venturing into Massachusetts to face highly-credentialed judoka Rick Hawn at World Championship Fighting 9. Consequently, it is widely expected that “Da Tank,” a.k.a. “The Wanderer,” a.k.a. “Boba Freakin’ Fett” will be adding another pelt to his grim collection. With solid wrestling, a strong submission game and over 15 bouts to his name, including convincing wins over the likes of Doug Gordon and Igor Gracie, Gallicchio has long been considered one of the most dangerous 170-pound fighters in the Northeast. Though Hawn sports an impressive judo resume that includes four national titles and a 2004 Olympic bid, his brand of pajama fighting will avail him naught when Gallicchio goes all “frozen in Carbonite” on his ass. Watch for the wall at Pellegrino MMA in Belmar to be adorned with Hawn’s hide after this weekend.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Observations from My Couch: UFC 110 "Mad Max, Men at Work, and Other Australian Things"
- I don’t understand it. It was an overseas fight, no one really had to worry about a legitimate post-fight drug test, and his opponent was a scrub. So why did Mirko CroCop look less than amazing?
- Keith Jardine sure does get knocked out well.
- I don’t know where this version of Georges Sotiropoulos came from, but he looked fantastic.
- See what happens when you stop feeding Michael Bisping tomato cans? He loses and whines about it.
- Someone please explain to me why Chris Lytle went through all those knockdown-drag-out stand-up wars when he could’ve been winning via submission the entire time. Please. Explain it.
- Stephan Bonnar and Krzysztof Soszynski… must… try… to… care…
- Cain Velasquez had a tougher time with Cheick Kongo than he did with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira? Lord, kill me now.
ROC 28 Postscript
This was one of the best Ring of Combats in a while. Bellmore Kickboxing’s Ryan LaFlare can now be considered one of the Northeast’s best 170 pounders and should only be facing other top dogs – like Tom Gallicchio, Greg Soto and Matt Makowski. Edson Barboza’s KO of Nabih Barakat was frightening. Barboza has clearly come into MMA with a ton of a striking experience. And TSMMA’s Louis Gaudinot took out a really hot prospect in Tuan Pham, and he did it on the feet, which is where Pham is strongest. Looks like the only way to beat Gaudinot is via lay-and-pray, and it should only be a matter of time before that chink in his armor is sewn up.
Friday, February 19, 2010
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